Containers have evolved in recent years to meet the demands of users. Water bottles and larger storage containers have significantly grown in popularity with both disposable and reusable water bottles becoming commonplace in contemporary society. The portability of these containers allows a user to consume fluids during strenuous exercise activity, during the work day, or while enjoying leisure activities.
Convenient consumption serves many functions for a user, including hydration. The Institute of Medicine generally recommends that women intake approximately 91 ounces of water per day and that men intake approximately 125 ounces of water per day to maintain proper hydration. However, these are broad guidelines, and the water intake for a given person varies depending on several factors. For example, the Mayo Clinic states that exercise, environment, heath conditions, and pregnancy are all factors that may affect the optimal water intake for a given person.
With this many factors, a user may have difficulty in keeping track of water intake in order to assess whether the user is properly hydrated or not. Some prior art containers have features that aid a user in determining water intake. For example, some bottles are made of translucent or transparent material and have markings on the outer surface of the bottle to indicate various volumes, much like a measuring cup. However, these markings require that the user physically record different markings at different times to track the user's water intake.
More recently, some containers have incorporated sensors to help track a user's water intake. Examples of these devices include the BluFit Bottle, the Vessyl bottle, and the Hydracoach. Some of these devices comprise a weight scale and a pressure sensor at the bottom of the bottle to record weight or pressure from the drinking container and a microcontroller to compute water intake based on weight or pressure changes over time. One disadvantage of these containers is that the weight scale and pressure sensors are restricted to the particular type, size or shape of the container. A user may accumulate several containers or use different containers in different situations, and thus, would need to buy a completely new sensor system for each container.
Other devices incorporate a flow sensor system into a straw to record the mass or volume flow of a beverage moving through the straw and, similarly, compute water intake based on mass or volume change over time. The drawback with these devices is that they necessitate the use of a straw to use the flow sensor system, which adds costs and a user may find a straw disadvantageous for a particular use of the container.
Therefore there is a need for a device, a system, and/or a method for tracking fluid consumption that is not limited to a particular container or necessitates the use of additional components such as a straw.